[1] Got pasta but no red sauce or items that can be turned into it? Just check the pantry and the fridge (photo © Good Eggs).
[2] Check for fresh, canned or frozen vegetables and make Primavera with olive oil (photo © Melissa’s). Bonus: some leftover chicken.
[3] No veggies? No problem! Garlic, olive oil, chili flakes and some celery and cucumber from the fridge created this tasty dish (photo © P.F. Chang’s).
[4] This Primavera contains canned artichoke hearts and some strips of grated carrot (photo © Grimmway Farms).
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October is National Pasta Month.
Most of us have dry pasta in the pantry, an easy-cook dinner.
But what if you have no pasta sauce—at least, no go-to red sauce, or the ingredients* from which to quickly make one?
Recipes evolved because people used what they had on hand. You can do the same.
These alternative sauces for pasta also work with grains and vegetables.
SUBSTITUTE FOR PARMESAN CHEESE
No parmesan or other Italian grating cheese? Use any other grated or shredded cheese, ricotta or cottage cheese (these latter often used to stuff pasta). Even those that may seem and unusual pairing—Stilton or Gouda, for example—work.
Crumbled cheese, such as blue, feta or goat, work with a simple oil or butter dressing.
Or leave cheese out entirely. Pasta/noodle dishes are served the world over without grated cheese. In Sicily, a mixture of bread crumbs and chopped herbs (oregano, parsley, thyme, etc.)
SUBSTITUTE FOR RED SAUCE
You can use any type of sauce you do have, from cheese sauce to salsa. Adding whatever vegetables—from sundried or cherry tomatoes to onions to any herb or spice on the shelf—gives added dimension. Check out these new Recipe Ready Tomato Paste Pouches from Hunt’s, and keep them in the pantry.
Asian sauces such as hoisin or ponzu or hoisin sauce create Asian-style noodles. You can also make Asian vinaigrette with sesame oil and rice wine vinegar; feel free to substitute the oil or vinegar with what you do have. You can also make a quick Asian dressing with soy sauce, vinegar and vegetable oil, a dash of garlic and/or ginger.
Butter, with cracked pepper or red pepper flakes, melts nicely on hot pasta. Just toss it for an instant sauce. Optional flavors include lemon zest, herbs or spices: ingredients found in any kitchen. If you have compound butter, great: Situations like this are exactly what it’s for.
Other dairy products provide additional options. You can use cottage cheese or ricotta straight or blended into a sauce; or make an herb sauce from milk, cream, sour cream or yogurt with whatever herbs or condiments you have on hand. You can also go international, flavoring these dairy products with anything: cumin, curry, dill, flavored salt, mustard, nutmeg, paprika, sage, tarragon, thyme, etc.
Meat, poultry and fish leftovers can be combined with any pasta or noodles. Leftover bacon? Sausage? Turkey? Just slice, dice and toss.
Olive oil or other oil is a substitute in many recipes. If you have a can of anchovies, clams, escargots, tuna or other seafood, it becomes both your topping and sauce. For a tonnato (tuna) sauce, pulse the tuna to the fineness you like.
Flavored olive oil makes an elegant sauce. You can add any ingredients you like, from capers and olives to garlic, jalapeño or lemon zest, chopped nuts or hard-boiled eggs.
Peanut sauce, the kind served on the popular Chinese appetizer, cold sesame noodles, can be made with only peanut butter Just dilute peanut butter with enough vegetable oil to the desired consistency. Season the sauce with sesame seeds, garlic and/or heat (hot sauce, chile flakes). Sprinkle with chopped green onions, chopped peanuts, and/or fresh herbs.
Salad dressings, whether olive oil and vinegar, mayonnaise, sour cream and bottled dressings, are used in different pasta salad recipes. So why not with hot pasta?
Vegetables—canned, fresh, frozen—combine with olive oil or melted butter into a primavera sauce. Use garlic or other seasoning as you prefer.
White sauce can be made in just 10 minutes. The recipe is below.
More?
Check the fridge and the pantry. You may find adobo, barbecue sauce, chili sauce, chimmichurri, chutney, pesto, piri-piri, sriracha ketchup and so on.
Turn them into a pasta sauce by blending with oil, sour cream, yogurt, etc.
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RECIPE: QUICK WHITE SAUCE
You can make a classic white sauce in just 10 minutes. Use it as is, or add whatever seasonings you like, from olives to nutmeg.
With grated Parmesan, it would be Alfredo Sauce.
Ingredients For 1 Cup
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
Dash of white pepper (substitute black pepper—white is used simply so there are no dark flecks in the sauce)
1 cup 2% or whole milk
Preparation
1. MELT the butter over medium heat in a small pan. Add the flour, salt and pepper, whisking until smooth.
2. SLOWLY WHISK in the milk and bring the mixture to a boil. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until thickened. Use immediately or refrigerate, tightly covered.
HOW MANY TYPES OF PASTA HAVE YOU TRIED?
Check out the different types of pasta in our photo-packed Pasta Glossary.
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*You can turn the following into red sauce: canned tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, tomato paste.
CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.
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